'Anora' is 'A Complete Unknown' with 'Longlegs' and 'The Substance' for Best Picture

First Time Watches of February - Part 2. [3/31/2025]

Mar 31, 2025

The magic of Longlegs is that, when you first start watching it, its aesthetics feel so fresh, original, and powerful. Its Achilles’ heel is that all that originality and power ultimately backs nothing but itself. There aren't many horror mystery pictures about a serial killer that could be so simultaneously meaningless and stylish, but Longlegs accomplishes this. Some of the most beautiful cinematography of the year is wasted on making pretty images that mean nothing in the end. Maika Monroe nails a lead performance that ultimately is failed by a movie that doesn't have anything but a cool post 70s look. Nothing congeals out of this mess of pretty pictures but a sense of betrayal at how much promise the trailers showed.

3/5
Currently on Hulu

Analyze That

Do you like the film Analyze This? Might I recommend you don't watch this sequel. Do you really, really hate The Sopranos? Then Analyze That might be right for you. Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal return to the screen as a mobster and his therapist in this pretty low-humor comedy to mixed results. The film’s most prominent emotion come from when it rags on The Sopranos with its parody show within the film, Little Caesar. That bit gets thin quickly and finds itself buried under scenes of De Niro's character making armchair psychology Freudian connections in the most basic way possible. The laughs of the original spring up unexpectedly, but are too far apart to make this more than a pathetic Soprano-hating dud.

1.5/5

A Complete Unknown

Since 2007's parody musical biopic Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story took the musical biopic behind a shed and shot it, the genre has been in a strange state of flux. Seeing the tropes of such a serious genre splayed out on the grass like a series of guts has made many cinephiles squirm at the idea of seeing such a dead genre continue. Many other movies have parodied a genre into its death, but unlike Airplane or Scream, the relatively minor success of Dewey Cox meant that for the populace, the musical biopic, now with its heart stopped, continued to plod along undead. Bohemian Rhapsody obtained so much praise by stuffing the guts of the genre, its overused cliches, back into their previous places of function. Yet critics and those in the know were less enthusiastic, and only allowed the weirdest musical biopics (Luhrmann's Elvis) a half pass.

Enter James Mangold, the director of the most musical biopic film of all time, the Johnny Cash story Walk The Line. Walk Hard is perhaps harshest to it (and Ray) of any film in the genre, parodying specific scenes from it like Johnny Cash's hesitant recollection of his life before going on stage or his angry wrecking of a bathroom in such a way that the film is hard to take seriously ever again. Hearing that Mangold would return to the genre for the story of Bob Dylan, an artist whom I have more personal affinity for, I became worried. Would we get the same paint-by-numbers schloch that John C. Reilly used to fertilize his lawn?

I'm happy to report that Mangold's second effort is at least better. Rather than giving the standard birth to death narrative that Cash's film endured, A Complete Unknown focuses on Dylan's emergence as a folk star and the controversy leading up to his acoustic to electric turn. This iris allows a more thorough exploration of what made Dylan tick. His ahead of the curb punk attitude was both a gift and a curse; Mangold, along with Timothee Chalamet in a wind-blown performance, captures what the musician's enduring spirit was in simple performance and lovely authentic camerawork. The film isn't perfect, as it does pull a couple of cliches now and then, but I'll always take the freewheeling and low-conflict structure of A Complete Unknown over the zombie-like adherence to formula of Walk the Line.

3.5/5
Currently on Hulu and Disney+

Here is a little fart of a film from the behind of Robert Zemeckis with more potential than it has the capacity to live up to. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reteam with the director to tell the story of a place, kind of. The unique way the film is shot from one perspective in a particular living room and tracks moments happening in one particular place across time seems like such a great idea. I'd love to see a genuinely fascinating story told adequately. (Carve that into my tombstone). Instead Here throws barely sculpted character after broadly drawn cliche into a big soup and asks us to care. I can not stress enough how little there is here in Here. It's an empty picture that vaguely gestures at sadness at the ongoing march of time, but in this sentence describing it I've likely packed more distinctive artistry than the film has in its sprawling two hours. For a movie about a particular space to feel so empty requires an exceptionally uninterested director, which is why director Robert Zemeckis is probably the worst choice to make a picture like this. Bobby, what are you doing? Inject some heart into what you do! Don't just feed us platitudes!

2/5
Currently on Max.

The Substance

I don't really want to write about this movie because I didn't like it as much as most but I can see some of the appeal. I'm much more excited about what it means for the Oscars that this body horror distributed by Mubi got a Best Picture nomination. Though it was never in the running to win, the movie’s accolades are unconventional considering its bonus act of straight up monstrous horror and gore, just waiting to run on the midnight circuit. Seeing something like this nominated for an award that was won by Green Book a mere half a dozen years ago makes me so immensely happy.

So I wish I loved this particular version of this movie. The film starts strong with a failing actress in her late career (Demi Moore, get it?) learning of a substance that can give her a chance at another life in younger skin. The metaphor becomes really clear as her hot young self gets everything she wants on her week in charge while her original self suffers the consequences. Alongside the very, very obvious points you can already guess the movie dictates about womanhood from my vague gesturing to it is a more fascinating message about aging as a whole. Unfortunately the third act decides to ditch this whole metaphor thing to be angry and indulgent. Don't misunderstand; a great bit of body horror can go a long way, but the film loses so much intelligence. The fact the metaphor was so blunt didn't become a problem until it became clear the metaphor didn't matter as long as the audience was having a fun and grossed out time. Suddenly, most of my goodwill dried up and left me with a puss-oozing mess. I think The Substance is alright, but it just thinks I'm stupid.

3.5/5
Currently on Mubi.

Anora

The Best Picture winner Anora follows the titular erotic dancer (played by Best Actress winner Mikey Madison) as she falls for and marries a young, impulsive, rich Russian (Mark Eydelshteyn, who so deserved a supporting actor nom over his costar Borisov). Her new life is quickly complicated when some unexpected guests arrive at the house -and that's basically all there is to say about it without spoiling the picture.

This thing absolutely sings and if I do make a top ten of the year list it's definitely on it, so all I'll say here is that it's a fantastic caper, very much for adults in its rhythm and intelligence, with so many small moments to love. While The Substance disappointed me with its finale that too directly decided it didn't want to challenge the audience in any way that wasn't aesthetic, Anora asks us to find meaning in a world where we're ultimately stuck in our roles.

4.5/5
Currently on Hulu and Disney+

Flow

This sweet, nonverbal Latvian animated film about animals surviving on a boat together is really worth lauding. There's more intelligence to this than anything from the big American animation studios this year and watching it alongside my single digit aged sister really emphasized how universal the core of the film's power was. Even in rare but powerful moments of strangeness, the movie enraptured her on an emotional level. I simply wish I could love this unconditionally; the most glaring flaw is these character models which scream cheapness in contrast to all the beautiful environments around them. Additionally a few small plot elements just ended up tiresome by the end, keeping me from giving this my masterpiece stamp. Still if you're looking for a good animated time to watch with your kid this year, this is the best recommendation.

3.5/5
Currently on Peacock.

Sheesh, I have five more to go! Okay, let’s speed through these. Problemista is a hilariously surreal look at the immigrant experience that remains both personal and universal at the same time. Hosting one of the great Tilda Swinton performances makes this worth watching alone. There’s a commitment-to-the-bit here that sparks imagination for a budding filmmaker and makes me excited about what everyone involved will do next.

4/5
Currently on Max.

Janet Planet

David Sims of The Atlantic named Janet Planet one of the best movies of the year, prompting my viewing of this little indie picture about a sixth grader’s relationship with her single-parent mother. Julianne Nicholson does great work and although the picture can be a bit cold for its subject matter there’s a sense of honesty about that time in your life when you can look back and realize all the things you’ve done, wrong or right, and make a decision about what your future should look like.

4/5
Currently on Max

Nickel Boys

Perhaps the most obvious facts deserve the most repetition; Nickel Boys deserved a Best Cinematography nomination at least. Shot from a first-person perspective but with a variety that stops comparisons to Hardcore Henry or the latest “Call of Duty” immediately, Nickel Boys opens up a new form of cinematography to the feature-length picture. This innovation is hung on a fascinating story of two black boys incarcerated in juvenile detention during the Jim Crowe era. Their story is raw and true as they debate whether to rebel against the system or allow their spirits just a bit of breaking.

4/5
Currently on MGM+.

The Brutalist

This year The Brutalist scratched the itch of those who wish for a 70s American epic to dominate at the Oscars. Through a story about a brutalist architect’s immigrant experience in postwar America, The Brutalist touches on many of the themes that dominated the year in cinema, including immigration, class disparity, and the unending struggle for power and recognition. A flooring performance by Adrien Brody leads a powerful cast in a way that will make your grandfather tell you how much he enjoyed the film.

4.5/5

Did you agree with my assessments? Disagree? Share your thoughts with your friends and followers!

And with that, I end this very silly exercise. Perhaps I’ll do it again, but considering it took me a full month to finish this one, I wouldn’t hold your breath!